Cardiovascular Health

In 2009, the Atlantic published a short article entitled “The Meaning of Our Vampire Obsession”, outlining some of the potential psychological explanations for our societal obsession with these mythical bloodsuckers. Eight years later, this obsession shows no signs of abating, with various movies including ‘Hopekillers’, ‘The Vampyre’, ‘Love Bites’, and ‘Bursting Bubbles of Blood’ announced, or in some stage of production.

While I can’t speak to the psychological basis for the Vampire phenomenon, I’ve recently started to think that there might be a (very small) grain of truth to these stories and the age-old folklore that serves as its inspiration. This grain of truth is rooted in two facts about vampires. (A) They are immortal, and (B) They drink blood.

By: Jordan Gaines Lewis, 4th year PhD candidate in the Neuroscience Graduate Program

Gamblers beware. Nadavspi (Wikimedia Commons)

My brief experience in a casino was pretty typical, I’d say.

Flashing lights. The faint smell of booze. Not much chatter among patrons. The sounds of dice rolling, machines buzzing, and coins clanking. The same butts inhabiting the same stools for hours on end. Everything you see on TV or in the movies is fairly accurate, to my untrained eye.

But one thing I didn’t notice in either the movies or real life, likely due in part to the gaudy décor, was the abundance of defibrillators lining the walls.

While nearly as common as water fountains and restrooms in public spaces like schools, malls, and airports, automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have more recently taken up residence in a place that probably needs it most of all: the casino.